Late Period
Amasis (Ahmose II)
26th Dynasty (Saite) · 664-525 BCE
Open full-size illustration →Source: Shaw, Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000)
Background
Amasis rose from common birth to a long, prosperous reign, and Herodotus preserves a famous anecdote in which the new king used a melted-down golden footbath to teach skeptical nobles a pointed lesson about where real worth comes from. Further reading: UCL Digital Egypt.
Chronological source: Shaw, Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000)
Full profile
A prosperous era
Amasis seized the throne following the rebellion against Apries, securing his legitimacy by burying his predecessor with full royal honors and marrying his daughter. His long reign was marked by immense economic prosperity and flourishing international trade, particularly with the Greek city-states. He forged close diplomatic ties abroad, sending lavish gifts to rebuild sanctuaries like Delphi, while keeping a watchful eye on the rising threat of the Persian Empire under Cyrus the Great.
The golden footbath
According to Herodotus, Egypt's traditional elite looked down on Amasis for his common birth, so he devised a pointed response: he had a golden footbath, an object his own dinner guests had washed their feet in and worse, melted down and recast as a statue of a god, then set it up in public for people to revere. Once it had drawn genuine worship, he revealed what the statue had originally been, comparing himself to the repurposed basin, once common and unremarkable, now transformed into something worthy of respect. Herodotus also describes him as a good-humored, hard-drinking king who defended his own informality by arguing that no one, least of all a ruler, could stay perpetually serious without eventually losing his mind.
Sources for this profile
- Shaw, I. (Ed.). (2000). The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press.
- Dodson, A., & Hilton, D. (2004). The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson.
- Leprohon, R. J. (2013). The Great Name: Ancient Egyptian Royal Titulary. Society of Biblical Literature.
- UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology. Chronology. UCLA.
- University College London. Digital Egypt for Universities.
The complete, APA-formatted reference list is on the Academic Sources & Bibliography page.